Well-capping device



Dec. 4 1923.

F. SIEVERN WELL CAPPING DEVICE Filed April 12. 1920 F'lllz.

FIBEI.

Patented cc. 4, 1923.

WELL-CAPPING DEVICE.

' Application filed. April 12, 1920. Serial No. 873,453. 7

To all whomit may concern:

' Be it known that I, FREDBICK s-IEVERN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a.

new and useful Improvement in Well-Capping Devices; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear and exact description thereof.Y My invention relates to apparatus for ca ping oil and as wells, and ithas for its 0 ect to provi e a simple and effective device whereby, whena drilled well begins 'to flow, it may be quickly and easily broughtunder control.

When an, oil or gas well is brought in, that is to say, when the drillpenetrates the sand where the oil or gas is held under high pressure,considerable difficulty is experienced in controllin the flow from themouth of the well. This is especially diflicult in the case of gas wellswhich often, when first brought in, flow at the rate of many millions ofcubic feet per day, and therefore issue from the mouth of the well atsuch a high velocit that ordinary capping means are not su cient. 7,Also, such wells often catch fire and may burn for many days before theflames are extinguished and the well brought under controL.

My presentinven'tion aims to avoid the difficulties mentioned above bymeans of a device composed of two main parts, one of which ,is attachedto the upper section of the well casing during the drilling opera? tion,while the second member carries a valve which is moved over the mouth ofthe well and securely fastened in place without interrupting the flow ofs or oil, the flow being then stopped by simply closing the valve.

One effective form of my device is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 is a lan view of the assenibled device; Fig. 21s a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken centrally of the device.

shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an end elevationalview of the samedevice.

As shown in the drawing, the device consists of a rectangular'base plate1 provided with a circular opening 2 which'is screwthreaded forattachment to the upper'end of a well casing 3. The plate 1 has achannel.

or vent opening 4 communicating with the circular opening 2, and is alsoprovided with a flange 5 that extends around three sides which registerwith similar of the plate 1 and is undercut as shown at 6 to provide adove-tailed seat for a cover plate 7. The sides and one end of the plate7 are beveled. as shown at 8 to fit in the dove-tailed seat provided bythe flange 5, and the plate 7 is also provided with a threaded opening 9for receiving a globevalve 10 and with-two smaller openings 11 o enings12 in the plate 1 when the plate 7 is, slid into position on the plate1, as shown on the drawing. Bolts 13 are passed through the registeringopenings 11 and Y12 in the baseplate and the cover-plate and arefastened in lace by means of nuts 14.

ile the well is being drilled, the base-. plate 1 is secured to the topof the upper section of the well casing, and does not obstruct thedrilling operation in any way. As the casing is lengthened'by adding newsections, the plate is removed from the old top section and attached tothe new top section. When the gas or oil be'gins to flow from the well,and it is desired to bring the flow under control, the plate 7 carryingthe .valve 10 is slid into its seat on the base plate 1 which maybeacconiplished even though the well is flowing under high pressure,because the vent opening 4 maintains continuous free communicationbetween the casing 3 and the openin 9 in the cover plate 7 7 while thecover p ate is being slid into. position. The

valve 10 is, of course, open at this time and I the gas or oil thereforeescapes freely. When the. plate 7 is fully seated on the base plate1,.it is secured in place by means of the bolts 13 and the nuts 14,whereu on the flow from the well may be shut o by closing the valve 10.This valve may be the permanent control-valvefor the well, and may be ofany usual or d sired construction.

It is a special advantage of my present invention that the well iscapped without interrupting its flow. Previous devices for bringinghigh-pressure wells under control have been difiicult to a ply, becausethey" have involved shuttin g o the flow from the well at leastmomentarily and thereby working against the full pressure of the well.Accor ing to my resent invention, the cutoff valve 1s secure y appliedto the well casing, but the flow from the well is never interrupteduntil after the valve is permanently fastened inplace.

While I have herein shown and described an embodiment of my inventionwhich I have found to be efiective and which I now prefer to employ, itwill be evident that various changes in the forms and arrangement ofparts may be made without departing from my invention, and I thereforedesire that no limitations be imposed upon my invention, except such asare indicated in the ap ended claims.

hat I claim is:

1. A Well-capping device comprising a cut-off valve and means movableacross the mouth of a well for securing the said valve thereto, the saidmeans including a contin: uously open channel for permitting the freeflow of fluid from the well while the said valve is being applied.

2. A well-capping device -comprising a member adapted to be attached tothe well casing during drilling, a cut-off valve and a member carryingsaid valve and adapted to be moved across the opening of the said welland to be held in place by the said firstnamed member. I I

3. A well-capping device comprising a member adapted to be attached tothe well casing during drilling and provided with a seat, a secondmember, slidably received in said seat, a valve carried by said secondmember and means for permitting uninterrupted flow of fluid through thesaid device While the said second member is being slid into the saidseat.

4. A well-capping device comprising a base plate adapted to be attachedto the well casing during drilling, the said plate being provided with aseat for receiving a second.

plate, and also being provided with a vent opening, a cover plateadapted to be slid into the said seat in the said base plate, and meansfor securing the said plates together.

5. A well-capplng device comprising a base plate having a screw-threadedopening for attachment to the upper end of a well casing, the saidbaseplate. being also provided with a Vent opening communicating withthe said screw threaded opening, a flange formed on the said base plateand having undercut sides forming a dove-tailed seat, a second plateadapted to fit within the said seat and having a screw-threadedopeningfor receiving a control valve, and means for securin the saidplates together.

6. A we l-capping device comprising a base plate having a screw threadedopening for attachment to the upper end of a wellcasing, the said baseplate being also provided with an elongated depression or vent openingcommunicating with the said screwthreaded opening, a flange formed onthe said base plate, and undercut to provide a dove-tailed seat, a coverplate adapted to be slid into the said seat and having a screw threadedopening communicating with the said vent opening while the said coverplate is being slid into position, the said base plateand cover platebeing provided with registering openings for receiving fastening means.

In testimony whereof I, the said FRED- RICK SIEVERN, have hereunto setmy hand.

FREDRIGK SIEVERN. Witnesses:

L. N. MORGAN, CHAS. RING.

